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Trump’s Ukraine Policy Is Succeeding While His Iran Policy Flails

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Newsletter Ross Douthat OPINION The New York Times , May 5, 2026,  5:00 p.m. ET Credit... Photo illustration by The New York Times; source images by Saul Loeb, Mansoreh Motamedi, and SimpleImages, via Getty Images By  Ross Douthat Opinion Columnist One of the many ironies of Donald Trump’s war against Iran is that only a year ago, most of the president’s critics assumed that any second-term crisis for the American empire would be caused not by reckless war-making, but by appeasement and retreat. In particular, the Trumpian push for peace between Russia and Ukraine was cast as the great betrayal, craven and sinister in equal measure, that would yield disaster for Europe and disgrace for the United States.   Yet today, as Trump struggles to find an exit strategy from his Middle Eastern war of choice, his administration’s policy toward Ukraine looks like everything his Iran policy is not: an effective rebalancing for a multipolar world, in which a major rival has been contai...
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Win -- Great talking with you today ... Would you have Martin current phone no.? I seem to have lost it. Best to you & yours, john

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Zelensky announces earlier ceasefire starting May 6, ahead of Russia's 'Victory Day truce'

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  May 4, 2026 11:56 pm The Kyiv Independent original article contains links By Sonya Bandouil President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine is declaring a ceasefire beginning at midnight on May 6, amid Russia's proposal for a temporary Victory Day truce from May 8-9. Zelensky said on May 4 that Ukraine had still received “no official appeal” from Moscow outlining the terms of the ceasefire that Russian officials have publicly discussed. “We believe that human life is far more valuable than any anniversary ‘celebration’,” Zelensky wrote, referring to Russia’s upcoming Victory Day commemorations. He said the proposed ceasefire would begin at 00:00 on the night of May 5–6 and argued that this timeframe would be enough to test whether a genuine pause in fighting could take hold. “We will act reciprocally starting from that moment,” Zelensky said, adding that it was time for Russia to take concrete steps toward ending the war. "It is time for Russian leaders to take real step...
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Taiwan Could Learn From Ukraine. Informally, Connections Are Growing.

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  The governments have no official diplomatic or military ties. But a loose network led by company executives and volunteers is bridging some of that gulf. Members of a Ukrainian drone regiment in the Kharkiv region in September. Taiwan is eager to learn from Ukraine’s experience, especially when it comes to drone warfare. Credit... Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times By  Maria Varenikova  and  Amy Chang Chien Maria Varenikova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine, and Amy Chang Chien from Taipei, Taiwan. May 5, 2026,  12:01 a.m. ET Before Russia’s full-scale  invasion of Ukraine  in 2022, Lee delivered parcels in Taiwan for a living, hung out with friends or played video games after work. He knew of Ukraine only from S.T.A.L.K.E.R., a game set in the Chernobyl nuclear zone. Now, he is serving in the Ukrainian Army on the battlefield and hoping that what he has learned about drone warfare can help not only Ukraine but, someday, his own homeland. “The war wil...
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